We've heard abuelitas say it time and time again: when are you going to get married and have a baby?

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As I type this, it's possible that my eggs are slowly drying up like unlotioned knees on a cold winter's day. At least, that's what my abuelita would have me think. Every year, on our shared birthday, she dedicates her birthday wish to asking Papa Dios to deliver her a great-grandchild via my uterus. Conversely, my birthday wish is for some extra-strength birth control and/or a pony. You know, whichever is readily available.

According to my abuelita, at 29 years old, I should be closer to becoming a grandmother than to becoming a first-time mother. In her eyes, my lady-huevos are quickly expiring, and the way she sees it, you don't put them in the nevera, you use them or lose them, baby!

But I'm not ready to use them, and honestly, I've started to come to terms with the idea that I might lose them. Call it acculturation, call it delayed adulthood, call it what you will, but baby-making just isn't a priority for me right now—my career is.

Whereas my grandmother comes from a generation—and a culture—in which women were expected to make a career out of motherhood, my generation is experiencing what many social scientists are calling delayed-adulthood, with many of us choosing to make careers out of…well, our careers. And believe it or not, I'm not the only Latina out there who is taking her sweet time when it comes to building a family. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, Latina pregnancy rates are the lowest they've been in over twenty years, with many U.S. Latinas siting the economy, their careers and increased access to contraception as reasons why they're choosing to wait to start a family.

So, as my grandmother plans a rousing game of "pin the sperm on the ovum" for this year's birthday party, I'm getting ready to answer questions about my uterus' intentions. And, honestly, I don't have answers for those questions. But really, I'm okay with that. I understand that yes, I am getting older and yes, I'm shedding eggs at lightning speed, but I also understand that my life is not defined by my ability to bring another one into the world.

So, I guess my grandmother will just have to keep wishing for a great-grandbaby and I'm just going to have to keep wishing for that pony. The way I see it, eventually one of us will get our wish—when the time is right.